AJAD Volume 8 Issue No. 1 June 2011

Seasonal floodplains under private and public ownership in the Indo-Ganges river basin provide food and income for millions of people in Bangladesh. Floodplain ownership regimes are diverse, covering the whole spectrum from public to private ownership. The paper compares community-based fish culture projects in these floodplains and analyzes the institutional arrangements of three different Floodplain Management Committees (FMC). The paper aimed to understand the complex institutional relations that govern ownership, access, and control of the floodplains under community-based fish culture (CBFC) to increase fish production and the livelihoods of the poor. We followed the stakeholders representing the various institutions and organizations such as the Department of Fisheries (DoF), Department of Land (DoL), and FMC. Other important stakeholders were the lease-holders of public water bodies in the floodplains, private landowners, seasonal, and professional fishers. The analysis demonstrates a significant increase of benefits to all stakeholders, including the poor, through the sharing of benefits derived from their involvement in the project. The willingness of different social classes to work together, the adoption of new technologies, and the societal embeddedness of local government institutions appear to be important inputs for policy making.

Coastal communities are especially vulnerable to the impacts of a range of natural disasters. The reported frequency of natural disasters has risen dramatically in the past 100 years, with coastal zones particularly exposed to tsunamis, cyclones, and flooding. Managing the change in coastal dynamics and securing the livelihoods of those affected as responses to these disasters, are important issues for governments and international agencies worldwide.

This paper discusses the important role that agriculture can play in the transition from immediate emergency aid to long-term recovery following natural disasters. The focus of this discussion is on the recovery following the 26 December 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the province of Aceh, Indonesia. Collaborative work such as monitoring agricultural soils and establishing experimental and extension activities to restore agriculture to tsunami-affected sites and supporting the long-term recovery of farming communities undertaken in Aceh from 2005 to 2009 is discussed. Recommendations for future agricultural recovery programs are outlined. The importance of agriculture to livelihoods in Aceh is mirrored in other populous nations of the world, many of whom farm extensively along coastal areas. Agriculture should be regarded as an integral part of any post-disaster recovery program.

The present study is concerned with the measurement of total factor productivity growth (TFPG) using the non-parametric approach for seven major crops--aus, aman, boro, jute, wheat, rapeseed-mustard, and potato--in West Bengal, from 1980 to 2003. TFPG is decomposed into the components of technical change, efficiency change, and scale change. A second stage regression analysis highlights the favorable role of factors (i.e., public expenditure, credit, irrigation, regulated markets, and inequality reduction in the distribution of operational land holdings) in fostering TFPG.

This study explores crisis-adjustment strategies adopted by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia in coping with the 2008-2009 global economic crisis. For the purpose of the study, a field survey on export-oriented SMEs in the wood and rattan furniture industry was conducted. The furniture industry was chosen as it is among several industries in Indonesia severely affected by the crisis. From June 2008 to June 2009, export of Indonesian furniture declined significantly. The survey found that the highest-ranking adjustment measure taken by the majority of the respondents was seeking out new customers or markets. It also found that for those who made adjustments to their existing workforce, the most important form was reducing working time. Overall, it was found that uneducated and female workers were the most affected by the labor-adjustment measures.

Agricultural intensification is not as simple as the Boserupian process of agricultural change; rather it is a complex evolutionary process involving several interacting drivers. This article attempts to identify the gaps in the social, economic, and environmental effects of agricultural intensification in the mid-hills of Nepal by reviewing agricultural intensification, which emerged as a major subject of development discourse in livelihood improvement and environmental degradation in Nepal. Intensification of agriculture has provided improved economy, food security, employment opportunities, decision making, labor division, local institutions, and leaderships. However, with the aim of increasing production, the intensification process has almost overlooked essential environmental factors -- soil acidification, fertility decline, and greenhouse gas emissions have been accelerated. A path towards sustainable intensification would be possible through improvements in agricultural extension programs such as integrated pest management (IPM) and farmers’ field schools. Indeed, good institutional systems make sustainable agricultural intensification economically feasible. Thus, such measures will probably encourage farmers and likely ensure economically- and environmentally-sound production, with the promise of sustainable agricultural intensification.

Agroforestry education in the Philippines is already 30 years old. While there was interest among the state colleges and universities to offer various agroforestry education programs in the Philippines, these institutions were faced with a number of issues, development needs, and challenges that hindered program implementation.

This article highlights the significant contributions of the Philippine Agroforestry Education and Research Network (PAFERN) in strengthening the quality of agroforestry education in the Philippines. It argues that institutional capacity-building programs of PAFERN made a difference in the current state of agroforestry education in the Philippines. These include building staff capability, establishing learning resources and support facilities, developing institutional linkages, providing access to agroforestry information, and enhancing policy advocacy programs.

PAFERN's experiences in strengthening agroforestry education in the Philippines only prove that creative networking and implementation of need-driven capacity-building programs would help advance a specific field or area of concern. PAFERN should continue providing institutional capacitybuilding programs to sustain its relationships, resources, and relevance in a changing world.